The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021 will be remembered as the scene of the final fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for the conquest of the world title, but not only: even before the challenge was resolved on the last lap, Formula 1 had the opportunity to greet one of its top representatives as Kimi Raikkonen, retired from racing and, above all, from competitions. The Finn, world champion 2007, thus left the Circus at 42 years of age after having competed as many as 350 GPs, setting the absolute record in the history of the category without however specifying any personal project for the immediate future.
Icemanwho ended his career at the wheel of theAlfa Romeo, he therefore maintained his style of poor feeling with the press and in public relations, merely stating that he would focus on his motocross team. Regardless of what the actual intentions of him, the Alfa Romeo team principal, will be, Frédéric Vasseur, meanwhile, wanted to send a loud and clear message to his former driver. The French engineer, interviewed by gpfans.comin fact reached out to the Finn just in casethe latter, decided to devote himself to a specific project.
The manager of the Swiss team thus confirmed his intention, also on behalf of the whole team: “I told him I could help him if he wanted to do something else – He admitted – and that also the Sauber group would be very happy to be supportive and to find other projects. Now they are almost everywhere, even in Le Mans and in Formula E. He has forced himself to want to close in F1, and then devote himself to something else in six or eight months. I think it’s hard enough when you have so many seasons in a row in F1 to stop and say: ‘Okay, I’ll do the WTCC next year’, or I don’t know what. I don’t know if he will return to the F1 paddock – he added – deserves to rest. Honestly, he had an excellent approach to us and has always been very open “. Before returning to Sauber in 2019 – with the renamed Alfa Romeo team – where he remained uninterrupted until 2021, Raikkonen made his debut in the top flight with the Hinwil house in 2001, before moving on to McLaren and Ferrari. After a two-year sabbatical in 2010 and 2011, the Finn returned to the track with Sauber in 2012, only to rejoin Ferrari in 2014.
#Vasseur #Raikkonen #projects #FormulaPassionit